1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to material handling and storage apparatuses for storing and transporting a variety of different materials and, more particularly, to a stackable material storage rack with removable side members.
2. Description of the Invention Background
Every day, reusable racks of all shapes and sizes are utilized across the United States to ship and store a wide variety of articles. Some racks are specially adapted for storing and shipping relatively fragile materials such as flat glass or ceramic and porcelain items such as plumbing fixtures and the like, while other racks serve to support articles such as boards, pipes, aluminum siding, etc. Regardless of the types of articles being stored and shipped, it is advantageous to utilize racks that can safely support the greatest amount of compatible materials while occupying a minimal amount of space in a warehouse or shipping vehicle. It is also desirable to employ racks that can be configured in various compact arrangements when emptied so that even less shipping space is occupied when they are returned to a supplier to be reloaded with material. Of course, when supporting relatively heavy materials, such racks must also be adapted to be manipulated by various material handling devices such as, for example, fork lifts, hand trucks, etc. The racks must also be constructed from material that can withstand the abuse of unloading and loading onto various transportation devices such as trucks, ships, planes, etc.
At present, many storage racks are fabricated from various forms of structural steel and comprise open-ended rectangular-shaped structures that have upwardly extending side members attached thereto. Such racks can often be stacked on top of each other when fully loaded with materials.
Other rectangular storage racks have removable rectangular side or front members that enable the materials stored thereon to be easily removed from the sides of the rack. The sides can also be removed to enable the racks to be more compactly stacked after they have been emptied. Such arrangement is particularly advantageous when returning emptied racks to a supplier because they require less trucking space.
In some rack configurations, the removable side members are attached to the rack base by upstanding socket arrangements adapted to slidably receive corresponding portions of the side members therein. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,494 to Giardini, U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,069 to Talarico, U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,783 to Weizer et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,538 to Beyer, disclose storage and shipping racks or containers that have side members or support members removably attached thereto by various socket arrangements.
In particular, the storage and shipping rack disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,494 comprises a modular assembly that is fabricated from hollow steel tubing. The rack includes a rigid rectangularly shaped base with vertically disposed legs attached at each corner thereof. The legs are fabricated from lengths of hollow steel tubing that serve to define four-sided sockets adapted to receive a portion of a corresponding side member therein. The removable side members are also fabricated from steel tubing and each have two leg extensions attached thereto that are adapted to be slidably received in a corresponding leg socket. This modular assembly rack is ill-suited for stacking multiple racks on top of one another or in a nested arrangement when the racks have been unloaded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,069 also discloses a storage and transportation rack that is fabricated from steel tubing. The rack comprises a rectangular or square base member that has a vertically extending hollow leg attached to each corner. The legs are also fabricated from tubing and form four-sided sockets into which corresponding vertically extending posts may be slidably inserted. The rack is also equipped with cross members that are adapted to be attached to the posts such that they extend therebetween. While this rack is suited to be stacked on top of other like-constructed racks, it is not well-adapted to be nested with other racks when emptied, short of total disassembly of each rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,783 discloses a nestable and stackable storage container that is capable of disassembly. The container comprises a deck member and a top frame that are adapted to be interconnected together by a joint arrangement that includes slidably interconnected pieces of steel tubing. While the storage containers are readily stackable when loaded, they must be disassembled to be stacked in a nested arrangement when they are unloaded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,538 also discloses a nestable shipping rack that is fabricated from tubular steel. The rack includes a rectangular base member that has an integral rear upstanding frame. The rack is also equipped with upstanding front receptacle members that are attached to the front corners of the base. The receptacle members are adapted to receive corresponding extension members that are attached to the legs of a removable front gate. Although the rack utilizes square or rectangular upstanding socket arrangements for removably attaching the upstanding front member to provide unobstructed access from the front of the rack and to facilitate nested stacking of the racks, this rack is not well-suited to be stacked on other like racks when fully loaded.
Other storage rack arrangements have been developed that can be stacked on top of each other when loaded and arranged in a nested arrangement when unloaded without disassembling the rack. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,278 to Edmark discloses a stackable modular storage rack that is adapted to support compact discs and can also be stacked in a nested arrangement. The rack may be injection molded from industrial plastics or it may be fabricated from sheet metal. Various embodiments of the rack employ A-shaped integral side members that are adapted to receive corresponding upstanding members formed on other racks to facilitate the stacking thereof. Although the A-shaped side members are adapted for stacking racks on top of one another, the side members are not removable.
A similar rack arrangement has been developed from steel tubing that can be stacked upon like-constructed racks when fully loaded and nested upon like racks when the racks have been unloaded without disassembling any of the racks. Such rack typically has an elongated base member that has two upstanding side members rigidly and non-removably fastened to each of the longitudinal sides of the base. The side members serve to retain various elongated materials on the base during shipping. To facilitate nestable stacking of emptied racks, the side members are formed in the shape of an inverted "V" or an "A" and are non-removably attached to the sides of the base in a spaced-apart relationship to permit another base to be stacked thereon in a nested fashion. In addition, the side members were also fitted with displaceable support members on their upper strut which could be selectively arranged to support another fully loaded rack thereon. While such rack configuration has addressed some of the problems encountered when using prior racks, it cannot be efficiently loaded and unloaded from the sides because the side members cannot be detached from the base. This rack arrangement, therefore, must be loaded and unloaded from above or from its ends. Such loading and unloading procedures are typically inefficient and cumbersome.
Therefore, there is a need for a material handling and storage rack for storing and transporting a variety of different materials that is capable of being stacked (i.e., multiple loaded racks may be placed on top of each other in a relatively secure position for transport) and also be arranged in a "nested" arrangement (i.e., multiple unloaded racks may be placed within each other in a relatively secure position for transport) when the racks have been unloaded.
There is another need for a material handling and storage rack having the above-mentioned attributes that is also equipped with side support members that can be selectively detached from the rack to permit materials to be readily loaded and unloaded from the sides of the rack.